The Nation - News from Jan. 28, 1988

The Senate, in its second day of debate on a landmark civil rights bill, refused to restrict anti-discrimination laws to segments of schools or religious organizations that receive federal funding. In separate votes, the Senate turned back efforts by conservative Republicans to narrow the scope of the legislation, rejecting their arguments that the Civil Rights Restoration Act would violate the religious freedoms guaranteed to churches, synagogues and religious schools in the First Amendment. The bill, which the Administration opposes, is designed to reverse the 1984 Supreme Court decision, Grove City College vs. Bell. In that case, the high court ruled that only the Pennsylvania school’s financial aid department, which received federal funds, and not the entire institution, was subject to federal sex discrimination regulations.